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Written on July 4, 2020
Flying micro drones is fun. It can be beneficial for your brain also.
Training FPV flying makes you better in reaction time, fast decision-making
planning, taming stress, orientation, and some electronics.
Reaction time combined with fast decision making is defining a good pilot.
Flying at high speed between obstacles there is just no room for thinking.
Decisions must be made instantaneous. And if the decision was bad or delayed
it's a crash. And it's not that easy as just not hitting a tree in front of you.
After that maneuver, there's probably more trees. Deciding how to fly over it
you need to also think about what will be the next step. There just needs to be
a space to continue the flight. Saving one hit to just hit something second
after that is not good. And without this planning, it will end with chaotic
avoidance one after another. You need to think of all of those possible paths
and choose one that is a smooth, curved, and safe one.
And when you choose purely you need to correct that fast. Stress will run high.
It's that moment when you can lose it and start to move the sticks all over the
place. It always ends in a crash. With more experience, it becomes easier to not
panic and just barely corrects the flight path.
Another cool thing that eventually becomes unconscious is to always remember
your orientation in space around. Where the quad is, where are the key points
of the path you chose and where you are as a pilot. You need those to keep the
radio signal connected. Flying over that concrete building may end up in losing
connection and crash. But this is an easy example. In the park you have trees.
One tree will not make a difference. But when between you and the craft the
number of trees increases it can be a problem. And when something happens, and
it will happen for sure, and you crash you need to know where it was for a
rescue mission. Everything looks different from above. You need to know the
place you're flying. Keeping track of some distinguishing features of the
terrain. Like a big tree, some house, you in the middle of a field. All those
things that will make it easier to map in your brain where the drone is at
the moment and where it is heading.
The drone will break eventually. You'll brake the antenna or motor. I learn a
lot about antennas, why it needs to be exactly that long how to solder it
correctly. Soldering alone will be the first skill you learn. How to handle
lipo batteries. And many other little things about electronics, physics,
and safety.
I think that all of those things are very useful in life overall. And learning
them from such a fun hobby is a great opportunity. It won't be easy but it will
be a well spend time.